Editing Jean Chrétien (section)

===Major role in referendum campaign===
The Liberals lost the [[1979 Canadian federal election|federal election of May 1979]] to a minority [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] government led by [[Joe Clark]]. However, the PC government fell when the House of Commons failed to approve [[1979 Canadian federal budget|its budget]] in December, triggering the [[1980 Canadian federal election]] in February. Trudeau had originally resigned the Liberal leadership after his 1979 election loss, but no leadership election had taken place to choose his successor before the fall of the Clark government; this allowed him to rescind his resignation and lead the Liberals to victory with a majority government.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

Trudeau appointed Chrétien as [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice and Attorney General]]. In this role, Chrétien was a major force in the [[1980 Quebec referendum]], being one of the main federal representatives "on the ground" during the campaign. His fiery and emotional speeches would enthrall federalist crowds with his blunt warnings of the consequences of separation. During the referendum, Chrétien fiercely fought behind the scenes with the leader of the Quebec Liberals, [[Claude Ryan]], who served as the chairman of the ''non'' committee, about the best course to follow, with Ryan favouring a more Quebec nationalist message as opposed to Chrétien's unabashed Canadian nationalist message.<ref>Martin, Lawrence ''Chrétien: The Will to Win'', Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 281–282.</ref> Chrétien delivered an average of six or seven speeches a day during the 1980 referendum all across Quebec and always managed to work in a local reference in every speech.<ref>Martin, Lawrence ''Chrétien: The Will to Win'', Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 286.</ref>